Growing Up Draco
by starvingartist114
Summary: Blood smells like metal when cooling on a basement floor...Draco had just made the first decision of his adult life, and he liked it. Oneshot


I own nothing, no one, and nowhere of Harry Potter, unfortunately :(

Reviews are, of course, always appreciated :)

Blood smells like metal when it's cooling on the basement floor. Draco Malfoy pushed himself up with two shaky arms, his hands leaving imprints in the red on the ground. His frame shook as the wind from his father's robes swept by him. Lucius had grabbed his only son by his white hair and drug him out of his room, down the stairs, and into the basement. Once having reached his destination, a bloodcurdling cry of "Father please!" could be heard throughout every corner of the large house. The screams continued for hours, causing the despondent house elves to slam their fists in their ears, trying in vain to block out the sound of their young master's pain.

"Draco," Lucius' voice was a cold menace. "You know why I am doing this don't you?"

"No, father," Draco whispered exhaustedly, raising himself to his hands and knees once again. He could see his own blood in a pool, seeping from numerous places on his pale body. He spit, and the blood flew from his mouth.

"Yes you do," his father was a very intimidating man, even when speaking in a friendly manner. But when Lucius Malfoy lowered his pitch and softened his volume, the man was no longer intimidating, he was psychotic. "I am doing this because you have befriended the twinkling eyed git of a school master." Lucius placed a well-aimed kick into his son's abdomen. Draco moaned and wound his arms around his throbbing middle.

"Did you really think he would save you?"

"Father," Draco replied breathlessly. "You're wrong, I didn't..."  
Lucius' eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did you say to me?" _Oh God_ Draco had just made a huge mistake.

"I'm sorry father," Draco said hurriedly, trying to fix what he had just done. Before he could finish, Lucius had grabbed his throat and lifted him clean off the floor. Draco's hands scrambled frantically and grabbed his fathers arm, trying to breathe.

"Did you say I was wrong?" Lucius' voice was still low and threatening. "Because Draco, of all people, you should know that I am never wrong. Vincent Crabbe's father told me that his son was upset because you had deserted him and were spending more time in the office with the Headmaster. Do not tell me that Crabbe is lying, Draco, he may be the village idiot, but a liar he is not."

"You were wrong," Draco spat, raising his eyes to meet his father's for the first time that evening. He was sick of taking this crap from his father. Even though this would probably mean his life, Draco was going to take a stand, now. "About Dumbledore, he is not a git. He is a great man who is more powerful than you will ever be, father!" Draco said the last word dripping with sarcasm. He figured it could be his last, so he better make it good.

"Draco, I am disappointed in you. I thought you were much smarter than that," Lucius dropped his son, who promptly sank to his knees. "Dumbledore will not be strong for very much longer. As soon as the Dark Lord is full again, no one will be deemed strong except his faithful. Then where will your headmaster be?"

"That day will never be father," Draco muttered, staring at the grime crusted on the basement floor. "Harry won't let it."

"Surely you jest Draco," Lucius peered down his nose at his pathetic excuse for a son, lying, breaking on the floor. "A seventeen year old boy will stop the cruelest, most powerful creature to ever walk the earth? You must be delusional."

"I'm not," Draco attempted to stand. Lucius quickly kicked his son back down where he thought he belonged. Draco covered his head in a protective manner, but kept on speaking. "You haven't seen him at school. He knows what he has to do, and he won't let anything get on his way. One way or another, Harry Potter will destroy Voldemort."

Lucius was livid. "How dare you breathe his name!" The older smashed a fist on Draco's face, causing his lip to split and the blood to trickle down his stubbly chin. Draco snaked out his tongue and licked the blood residing on his face.

Lucius continued his tirade. "Potter will not defeat the Dark Lord, no one will. Do you really think I would still be faithful to him if I didn't think he would end up lord in the end?"

"I don't know," Draco said, knowing that he would pay dearly for this. "You never have been the smartest of even the deatheaters, and that wouldn't be a goal above many." _Maybe I want to die_ Draco thought. _I would never talk like that to him if I didn't want to die, cause for that one, he will kill me._

"Boy," Lucius hissed, his face slowly turning the color of the blood drying on Draco's body. "Sometimes I wonder if you really are fit to be one of the Lord's elite. It would be disgrace upon insult for my child not to be a deatheater. And before you say something that would force me to kill you, let me remind you what the Dark Lord does with those who do not obey him."

Draco had a thought of rebellion before the spell hit him, but once the pain of _Crucio_ slammed into him, no other thought could enter his mind. His throat opened and the loudest scream he had ever heard filled his ears. Lucius lifted his wand as his son cracked his head onto the stone floor.

"Are you done yet?" Lucius asked.

"Please father," Draco begged, never wanting to experience that hell again. "Do not do that again."

"Then do not make me," Lucius responded. "I think you need some time alone. Think of the choice you have coming up." Lucius drew close to his son. He grabbed Draco's face and forced their eyes to meet. "If you thought that was pain, wait until the Dark Lord gets you. I could bring you to tears by the mere descriptions of what he would do to you. So think carefully Draco." Draco collapsed on the stone, breathing hard and painfully; his mind ran rampant. He tried to think clearly, but his middle was throbbing. He felt it rise in his throat. _No,_ he thought. But he couldn't stop the bile from rising and erupting from his throat. He issued a cough and narrowed his eyes at the burning sensation he felt.

"Just don't let him come back," the boy spoke out loud; truly fearful of the pain his father could think of to inspire him with. Past sessions with his father left him with scars he would never show anyone; some, because they were not visible to the eye, and others, well, they were just too painful to remember.

_I've got to get out of here,_ Draco thought. He knew that another month with his father would be the end of his life. Lucius Malfoy would not stop until his son was dead or a deatheater. If it was all the same to everybody, Draco preferred neither. That night he began his plans. Maybe he could stay with Potter over the summer, or even the Weasley's. He swallowed hard and grinned. Draco Malfoy had just made his first adult decision, and it felt good.


End file.
